In recent years, the proliferation of digital photography has provided consumers with a variety of options to store and use captured images. These options include various “soft copy” methods involving memory cards, memory sticks, CD's, DVD's, hard drives, on-line storage etc. These “soft-copy” options, while providing the environmental benefit of eliminating the paper, ink or dye, and other chemicals required for “hard-copy” output, are potentially less secure for long term storage due to media format obsolescence, storage media physical or chemical breakdown, and on-line storage companies disappearing. A variety of options exist for customers to print digital images, including conventional silver halide processing, ink-jet, thermal dye transfer, and electrophotographic methods. These “hard-copy” methods are capable of providing printed output which can last for many decades. Although customers can make such “hard-copy” prints at home, modern retail outlets provide kiosks and order-terminals where both prints and additional services can be requested and provided. Similar services are also available from on-line companies such as Shutterfly. An increasingly popular service provides photo albums or photo books with collections of images associated with a specific event, such as a vacation, family gathering, school function etc. The photo books are composed of printed images produced by any one of the printing methodologies described above that are bound together in book form.
Photo books can be constructed in various formats. For example, single sheets of printed material bearing an image on one side of the material can be bound together to form the photo books. Such photo books are generally less preferred as each printed page of the book will face a blank page (i.e. the non-printed backside of another printed page). This disadvantage can be eliminated by adhering together sheets of single-side printed media to produce a double-sided album page as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,791,692, U.S. Pat. No. 5,957,502, U.S. Pat. No. 6,004,061 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,047,683. U.S. Pat. No. 6,742,809 describes a strip of images folded in accordion manner such that each pair of adjacent images forms two sides of a page, the accordion folds being adhered together on the inside. Photo books produced by adhering two imaged prints together are typically thicker than single-sided sheet products, and this can result in a heavy and bulky product when the photo book contains a large number of pages.
The pages of printed images can be bound together in a variety of different ways to fabricate the photo books. Techniques known in the art for constructing photo books include binding the pages together using binder clips, staples, adhesive, stitching or ring binders. These methods vary widely in the attractiveness and durability of the resulting photo book, as well as the equipment and operator skill level required during the fabrication process. Generally, the methods to produce the most attractive and durable photo books have required expensive components or complex binding equipment operated by highly-trained operators. This has made it impractical to produce photo books in retail environments that offer photo printing services using photo kiosks.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,061,139 to Zoltner, entitled “Method for applying hard and soft covers to bound or unbound documents,” discloses a bindery system for applying hard or soft covers to form bound books. The system includes a metal U-shaped channel which is bonded to the inside spine surface of the cover. Specialized equipment is used to crimp the U-shaped channel to bind the book pages.
A number of different binding systems have been proposed that utilize spring clamp mechanisms. U.S. Pat. No. 5,716,181 to Ebel, entitled “One piece self-binding system for binding documents,” discloses a binding system for use in a home environment that utilizes a spring binding to clamp pages into a bound book. A retaining piece is provided to hold the spring binding open until the pages are in place. The retaining piece is removed to clamp the pages into the book cover. U.S. Pat. No. 7,757,358 to Hoarau et al., entitled “Sheet retention mechanisms for spring clamp binders,” discloses a system for binding pages together using a spring clamp mechanism. U.S. Pat. No. 7,798,736 to Hoarau et al., entitled “Media binder arrangements,” discloses a media binder that includes spine clamps for securing the media pages. A tension sheet is used to transmit an opening force to the spine clamp. The components of such systems are generally too expensive and complex to be useful for producing low-cost photo books in a retail environment.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,866,274 to Malavazos et al., entitled “Device for binding sheets,” discloses a device for binding a plurality sheets that comprise a pair of identical binding members, each of which includes a base member and a plurality of binding posts. The binding posts are inserted through apertures on the other binding member. Each binding post has a continuous series of ratchet teeth adapted to engage with the ratchet teeth on a corresponding binding post on the other binding member. This approach has the disadvantage that after the binding pieces are assembled, a cutting device must be used to shave off the portion of the binding posts that protrude from the outer face of the base members.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,443 to Sullivan et al., entitled “Adjustable, releasable binding fastener,” discloses a fastening device having male and female fastener portions for binding a stack of paper. The female fastener portion includes a planar base having an aperture and an arcuate shaped collar with ratchet teeth facing the aperture on two opposing sides. The male fastener portion includes a post extending perpendicularly from a planar base. The post includes ratchet teeth adapted to engage with the ratchet teeth on the female fastening device when the post is inserted into the collar.
French patent document FR2668981A1 to Bourdarias discloses a device for assembling sheets into a packet. It comprises a pair of identical pegs, each having one side formed into a series of teeth. The pegs are designed to be inserted head-to-tail in a hole running through the sheets, the toothed sides being placed against each other. The total cross-section of the two juxtaposed pegs fits closely inside that of the hole. Each peg has a head which stops against one side of the packet.
There remains for a low-cost method to bind a set of sheets to form an attractive and durable photo book without the need for special purpose equipment or highly-trained operators.